Still working on Conan: Exiles, which got an update yesterday. My thoughts remain the same: good game, excellent base-building, but there’s not really much that I haven’t already seen a hundred times in other survival games. I’ll probably drop it soon.

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I finished a co-op campaign of Abiotic Factor with my brother-in-law that we started early in its Early Access period and have been returning to every few months. The game is every bit as great as everyone says, though the ending is incredibly abrupt and felt a bit rushed. I hope they expand on things in a later update or in future DLC.

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Also played a bit of Gloomwood, a lo-fi immersive sim which comes very close to scratching that Thief itch. The stealth is great, there are many pathways through the level so you always have multiple routes to achieve an objective, and the AI is the perfect balance between smart and dumb for shenanigans. There’s also an incredibly satisfying backstab, though certain enemies wear armor that makes them immune so you sadly can’t ghost and clear out entire levels.

I do have some minor complaints. I’m not a fan of the limited Resident Evil-style grid inventory since I’m a packrat, especially since the game has a research mechanic where you need to chop up enemies and bring one of every single body part to a specific point on the map to unlock crafting recipes and character bonuses and one body’s parts take up the entire inventory, necessitating some very fiddly inventory juggling or multiple trips across the entire world map.

Enemies are also persistent, including their state. Once you kill someone they stay dead for the rest of the game, which on one hand speeds up backtracking, but on the other also make it a boring chore. There are a few points where new enemies spawn in old areas, at least.

I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a good immersive sim. It’s still in Early Access but what’s there is already incredibly satisfying z despite my gripes.